Happy Valentine's Day

We had a nice long weekend of celebrations this year for Valentine's Day. Daddy and the girls kicked off the weekend of Love with Daddy/Daughter Date Night at Chick-fil-a. They did this last year around Father's Day and loved it, so everyone was excited to go back. Meredith insisted she be "fancy," so she picked out her Christmas dress. When Jillian saw Meredith's choice, she immediately asked "I have one like sissy, too?" So we grabbed her Christmas dress, too. The girls even asked for makeup and Meredith asked me questions about me getting ready for my first date with Daddy. It really was sweet (and don't worry - the "makeup" they got was just me barely touching the lightest pink eyeshadow with the brush - but they thought they were still thrilled!) Meredith then told Daddy (who had on wind pants) that he had to wear "fancy pants" so he changed plans from jeans to slacks. Daddy said they were definitely the fanciest there, so I think mission (for the girls at least) accomplished!
The next day, we went to my parent's house for dinner and even got to bring Landon home to spend the night because his mom and dad were skiing - it was so fun having him here with us! We attempted to let everyone sleep in Jillian's room, but Meredith gave up and went to her bed. Then in the middle of the night, I think Landon forgot where he was and was scared, so he AND Jillian moved in to sleep on our floor and everyone did great!

Then on Tuesday, when the girls woke up, we had a little gift for each of them - Meredith got the CD from Annie and Jillian the CD from the Muppet Movie. Both are huge hits - we listen to them both almost everytime we are in the car! Since it was a Tuesday, it was a school day, but I got to go celebrate Valentine's Day at Meredith's school for her class party. I believe this is the first party I have ever forgotten my camera, but we had lots of fun - pizza, cookies, games, and crafts! Plus, Valentine's galore!

Later that night, we met Neal at one of our faves - Smashburger! Not sure if the girls love the food as much as they love the fact that it is right next door to a frozen yogurt place, that we inevitably visit everytime we go! So, we had burgers and frozen yogurt to end the night!

Fun at Smashburger

Yumilicious!!

Barbie Seamstress

One of the things that Meredith was most excited to ask for at Christmastime was a sewing machine. We found her a cute Hello Kitty one and she was super excited to try it out. After we got it all set up, we made a bag with the materials that came with the machine. I quickly realized that my machine is way easier to use than trying to get her to use this one, so I was a little hesitant to try it out again. But, Meredith was not going to give up that easily! She decided she wanted to make a dress for her Barbie. We used the fabric I used to make her a dress to be a Hula girl. We made measured a Barbie dress we already had and then cut the fabric like I did for Meredith's bigger dress. We started to use Meredith's machine again, but when I realized that threading it was going to take me an hour, I convinced her that I would show her how to use the real thing! So we pinned the fabric, and I fed the fabric while she pushed the foot pedal. Then she used a little embellisher that came with her machine to add a cute heart to the front. We were pretty proud of our work, although I realized that I maybe should have added a little length. Oh well, we'll find Barbie some leggings or something!

Showing off her skills - and the Mommy Daughter sewing machine set-up in the background.
A little closer up to show detail - and lots of leg!

Meredith's New Do

A month or so ago, Meredith decided she wanted her hair cut off to her chin and she was ready to do it that moment! We had to wait a bit for an appointment, but she never faltered!

Here she is mid-cut - there was lots of hair on the floor!
Side view of her after her cut!

I am not sure I would have had the guts to cut off so much without her being so insistent, but it is absolutely adorable! Although it makes her look super grown-up...which, of course, makes Mama a bit sad!